A Visit to Bodrum, Türkiye

Hello! How are you? We recently visited Bodrum, and I thought you might like a quick look.

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When I first met my spousal unit, Bodrum, Türkiye was one of the initial villages we visited. And yes, over thirty years ago, Bodrum was a village. Now, it is a bustling resort on the Aegean Sea known for its never-ending party atmosphere. This is the view from my favorite hotel, The Marmara Bodrum.

Some of my best memories are from the restaurant perched over the pool with that fabulous view. It has always been the place my husband and I come to be together and relax, whether away from work and the world or when, years ago, the kids were happily cared for by their grandmother.

Mid-afternoon streets at the end of summer still have tourists and millions of scooters roaming around. The restaurants are all open-air, with the majority being seafood. Here’s a quick look at the main boulevard. (see video below) At night, it is a hopping place with the restaurants full, the music loud, and the bands competing with each other from various points around the bay.

But there are other reasons we come to Bodrum. We have a friend in the marina who spends a lot of time on his sailboat, and we love to visit. After dinner one evening, we received a first-hand experience of the city's music and nightlife. If you’re interested in clubbing, here's more information. I’m not sure how my friends sleep at night since the clubs don’t close (that I could tell). I was happy we were on the mountain, relaxed and away from it all.

We learned on this trip that our friend is only afraid of earthquakes. “Why?” I asked. “You’re out on the water.” His response? “The boats are too close together here. When the earthquake happens, the water rolls in giant waves, and the boats are like toys, crashing into each other. The lines snap, the floating piers rip from their posts, and it’s a mess.” He had a point.

Bodrum is also the jumping-off point for our many trips to Datça, Türkiye. The ferry leaves several times each day, carrying cars and passengers. Here’s a quick video of the two-and-a-half-hour trip to give you an idea of what you’ll see on the way over. A ferry trip is one of my favorite things. This trip was a little too sunny on one side of the ferry and a little too much diesel on the other, but it was still good.

If you’re into Greek island hopping, you can get a ferry from Bodrum to Kos and then take other ferries in the Greek system to other islands. Pull up Google Maps, and you’ll quickly see how central Bodrum is to many islands. A trip to Rhodes is best from Marmaras, another Turkish city not far away. Or catch a flight to Crete — another post for another day.

For more photos, visit my website. For additional information on Bodrum and the surrounding area, see here. If you have questions about the area, there are many knowledgeable people in Turkey on Facebook here or you can drop me a message here.

Thanks for reading. If you have other places you wish me to explore for you, let me know!

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